


The Good Days

by Major



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9606956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Major/pseuds/Major
Summary: There were days in Hell's Kitchen when it seemed like every bad guy on the planet had sent an RSVP to interrupt and crowd Matt's life all in one spectacular night of dark alley carnage. Then there were evenings where everything narrowed down to a comfortable population of three.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [attackonomelas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackonomelas/gifts).



> Takes place post-season one with the change that Karen found out Matt was Daredevil soon after Foggy.

There were days in Hell's Kitchen when it seemed like every bad guy on the planet had sent an RSVP to interrupt and crowd Matt's life all in one spectacular night of dark alley carnage. Then there were evenings where everything narrowed down to a comfortable population of three.

Matt and Foggy were sitting across from each other in folding chairs in front of Karen's desk going over a list of pros and cons on whether getting an aquarium for the office would make the practice seem more successful or tacky. Karen had no opinion other than an affection for clownfish when she abandoned them to make a run to the bank. She came back with a significantly more huffy breathing pattern and went around to sit with a spike in her temper that Matt didn't need to see to register.

"Can I borrow your suit?" she asked as her purse slapped the desk, filling them in on the rude bank teller and the impatient line behind her that made her fondness for humanity take a hit. "I really need to kill something."

Foggy decided to sing Matt's praises for unknown but highly suspicious reasons. "Daredevil is not a killer. He's the savior of the good people of Hell's Kitchen. The great hope of the city— _Nay_. The salvation of the country! One mugger at a time."

Karen calmed somewhat after venting, tone softening towards amusement at the level of what, even Matt could admit, was overselling his role. "You're being generous today."

The ruse got dropped quickly, which wasn't surprising. Foggy liked to blow things out of proportion when it served him but didn't have the stamina to keep it up for long. "Nah. I just want Matt to buy me dinner since I forgot my wallet at home and thought rampant hyperbole would be pretty persuasive."

Now that, Matt believed.

"You should try the trash can behind Pete's Palace. You could probably put together a decent dinner from their scraps," he suggested.

He got a crumbled piece of paper tossed at him for the tip. He could have dodged it but let it bump off his chest. Foggy needed his small victories on occasion.

Karen's stomach wasn't rumbling, but she was sidetracked from her irritability easily enough at the mention of food. "Mm, Pete's Palace. We should go there today for real."

Foggy was down for it. "Up to Matt since I am but a penniless beggar today at the mercy of his questionable charity."

Such theatrics for a problem so easily solved. "You know, we could stop by your apartment and get your wallet."

"Come on, I thought you'd love swooping in and saving the day with your bottomless pockets, what, with your hero complex and all. Foggy hungry. Foggy need Matt to hunt for food."

The caveman noises were just unnecessary.

"Yeah, hunt some food, Matt," Karen urged.

He lifted a brow at the pile-on. It was never a good sign when they started in on something as a joint force. Matt had limited willpower against one of them. His spine had an awful tendency to turn to putty when they combined their powers against him.

"Did you forget your wallet too?" he asked her.

"No," she admitted, "but I haven't converted any of my money yet. You guys really need to stop paying me in gold bricks."

Matt's lips twitched towards a smile. "Karen, if you want a raise, all you have to do is—"

"I want a raise," she cut in. "But, you know, treating me to dinner every once in a while - say, at Pete's Palace - to show appreciation and such, would be basic human decency, some might say."

Foggy was quick to hop in. "Oh yeah, I'd definitely say that. Show some human decency, Matt."

With a sigh of exasperation that he only half felt and only showed for their benefit, he took them (and his full, present wallet) to Pete's Palace.

Daredevil was having a slow couple of weeks. Crime was in a lull. He took out a street thug here or there; wasn't quite at rescuing kittens from trees, but he hadn't had to wash out any bloodstains or go to Claire for medical attention for long enough that he was growing leery of the quiet. Peace never lasted long, especially in Hell's Kitchen.

The calm did afford him the chance to relax, however, and he used the opportunity to tune out the city - letting it fade to a secondary hum - while focusing in on Foggy and Karen.

He didn't contribute much to the conversation once they were seated at a table, preferring to listen to the two of them squabble back and forth over the overpriced meal they talked him into treating them to. The topics varied from Best Divas—

("Madonna is a classic, Karen. You can't out-Vogue the queen."

"I know," Karen said guiltily. "I'm just saying, I've never been to a Madonna concert, so she really doesn't compare _to me_ to seeing Lady Gaga live."

"I vote Beyoncé," Matt volunteered just to light a fire. It worked, both of them scrambling into a new debate.)

—to favorite childhood board games.

"Monopoly. Obviously," Foggy said. "Or checkers. What's that game with all the dinosaur pieces and the moat that you put Sea-Monkeys in?"

Matt didn't have to think about it, confident as he replied, "That's not a game."

"Hey, I know what I played! Does Jenga count as a board game? Boards are overrated. I vote Jenga."

"Ooh, me too!" Karen enthused. "We should get Jenga and liquor—"

"Eels or no eels?"

"No eels," Matt decided. He liked the story. He didn't want to _be_ the story.

"Close up early," Karen suggested. "We don't have a case anyway."

"Jenga and booze. These are the decisions that make me feel like an adult." Foggy sighed wistfully, and Matt smiled. "Can we add nachos and cartoons to this shindig?"

"How can you want nachos?" Karen objected. "You're not even halfway done with your plate."

Which was a point of great offense to Foggy. "Nachos have the freedom and cheesiness to defy explanation. Apologize to nachos everywhere."

"I'm sorry, nachos," Karen played along gravely. "Hey, what about Twister?"

"We may have to move Matt's parts to the right colors," Foggy replied thoughtfully.

Matt puzzled at that. If he could incapacitate multiple assailants, he could probably find a blue circle on a mat after a quick tutorial.

"Don't worry, Matt," Karen assured him. "Hands and feet are the only parts on the spinner."

Foggy snorted his drink up his nose.

He clapped as they walked back out onto the street. "So should we hit up Toys R Us or a liquor store first?"

"This is still under the assumption that I'm paying for everything, right?" Matt went ignored as he expected.

"I gotta vote to get the games first." Foggy stepped close enough to Matt for him to take his elbow. "Walking through the aisles of Toys R Us with a six-pack doesn't scream class to me."

But they came across a liquor store first, and Matt switched to holding Karen's arm as Foggy disappeared down the aisles and only met them back at the register with what he wanted. A bottle of whiskey that made Matt turn towards him blankly when he was told the price by the clerk. He paused with his wallet, inquiring on whether this was an IOU situation.

Foggy protested, "I'm not shelling out that much. You know how sore my fingers get from pinching all my pennies."

Matt really didn't know why he indulged him.

They were halfway to Matt's apartment before they realized they forgot the games.

"Anyone else not feeling the games anymore?" Foggy asked, with Matt's hand around his arm and Karen's arm weaved through his other one as they walked down the sidewalk. "I'm feeling my age, and my age is telling me to get drunk and fall asleep in front of the TV, preferably with Bruce Willis on the screen in some capacity, explosions welcome."

"A man of refined tastes," Matt teased. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to sweep the city before I settle in for _Die Hard_."

The best part of movie nights with them wasn't listening to the movie anyway. It was Foggy's running commentary: "I'm going to give you my eyeballs when I die, and after the twenty years of blackout rock-bottom mourning you suffer from my untimely loss, you need to watch this movie." And Karen beating him with a pillow during her favorite parts to get him to shut up.

Karen hugged him before he could turn back towards the city a block away from his apartment building. "Be careful."

Foggy slapped his shoulder. "Yeah, Matt. Don't be a dick and, like, die or something. That would inconvenience me on many levels. You know I hate picking out flower arrangements."

"I'll try not to burden you with my death, Foggy," he promised.

"Good. Ooh and get Milk Duds on your way home."

"And popcorn!"

Matt made a mental note to both get those things and keep the receipt so he could give it to Foggy to reimburse him for it.

"But we're not waiting for you," Foggy warned. "Your ass-kicking is a real time consumer sometimes. You need to work on brevity in your heroism. Get one of those timers geeks use when they play chess. Speed fighting."

Karen's advice was kinder. "Take your time. Stay alive."

He could hear the rustle of Foggy's suit jacket as he shrugged. "That works too."

Matt started off but lingered on the street corner, listening to their heartbeats and laughter as the diva debate started up again. Christina Aguilera was in the mix now, and things were getting ugly. He smiled and waited until the argument was muffled behind the door of his apartment building, signaling that they were inside for the night.

He slipped into the shadows and turned his senses elsewhere, towards the pulse of the city and the crime underneath. It was easier to protect the city when he knew Foggy and Karen were safe. That was just how it was with family.


End file.
